I remember an episode in which most of Springfield joins a cult. The pastor says to his last followers (Ned & Family), "This new cult is no more than mindless repetition and the taking of people's money! Now let's say the Lords prayer 5 times and pass the collection plate." Another episode sees Maggie scoring high on an IQ test, the test giver exclaims, "That's very high for a christian!"

Yes and I thought that was pretty clear by now as it has been repeated countless times on here. Although I'm sure Verszou understands that and it was just a poor choice of words on his part.

Well, just as a courtesy to new readers...

Absolutely. I though that was the motive behind your correction. And it does need to be said again and again because it's something that not only christians but many others get wrong too - for instance, I didn't realize the distinction when I first came here.

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While having never invented a sin, I'm trying to perfect several.

Unfortunately, I've been guilty of using the term "LaVeyan Satanism" to explain real Satanism to someone unfamiliar. It sort of makes a person take notice that it's something different than what they think they know of. If they're interested enough to really engage in a good discussion about it, I tell them the details. That probably doesn't help though.

Yes, I know that, and it probably does a great disfavor for Satanism, but it had helped me avoid a confrontation before. Now that I've studied about it more, I will indeed keep myself from making that mistake.

Yes, I know that, and it probably does a great disfavor for Satanism, but it had helped me avoid a confrontation before.

I've done the same thing, for very much the same reason. Every shithead on the planet with a television or a subscription to Readers Digest fancies themselves an expert on "Real Satanism," so you do often have to use various techniques to get them to sit down, shut up, and listen.

But, I believe it is vitally important to then wean people off of the idea of different and diverse "Satanisms" as soon as possible, once they've been educated about the real deal, and then absolutely insist upon that standard.

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"Gentlemen, the verdict is guilty, on all ten counts of first-degree stupidity. The penalty phase will now begin."--Divine, "Pink Flamingos."

This is such a sticky point with Satanism. In respect, I absolutely agree that it is a vitally important distinction to make. But, not everyone will see it this way.

People call Liquid Paper "whiteout" even though it is not White Out. People call--much less, these days--copying "Xeroxing" even if the machine is a Konica, Cannon, or some other.

There is something to be said for what has, for no good reasons, become a household name.

Some people just do not see a word for what it was meant to mean.

That you mention "insist[ing] upon that standard" even elucidates the problem: Satanism as codified by Anton LaVey is the Golden Standard, if you will, of what Satanism is. The attribution "LaVeyan Satanism" is not going away so long as their are other institutions of similar name. If anything, it will just become more of a household name as more and more institutions subsume the moniker "Satanism" in their names or customs.

I am not saying it is right or anyone should stop insisting on what is correct. Just saying that, despite any valiant efforts, it is not going away.

You see the same thing happening with for instance the word "Hacker". It goes back to MIT, even to the days before computers were widespread. The original use was to denote a person with skills, but over the years it was misused to refer to criminals who break into computer systems.Even though the open source community tries to retain the word in its original meaning and refer to the criminals as crackers, the damage is done. Even among those who break into systems you have white hat, black hat and grey hat variants of the hacker name.

Getting back to the "LaVeyan Satanism" term, I often prefer to refer to Church of Satan instead of LaVey, to point out to people that it is an active organisation, not a personality cult. After all when I look at my bookshelf these days, the books by other members of the hierarchy outweigh the number of books by LaVey.

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While having never invented a sin, I'm trying to perfect several.